I work in colored pencil because it allows me to render my portraits with extreme detail and precision.

Using airbrush for the background helps me achieve a soft, out-of-focus look, encouraging the viewer to focus on what is right in front of them. I begin by finding high-quality reference photos of the subjects I desire to draw that are either my own photos, licensed under CC0 Creative Commons, or royalty-free. I look for photos where I see some aspect of myself in the subject such as a sense of stillness, an expression, or a specific emotion. I then seek to capture that aspect in my rendition of the subject while also preserving their unique personality.